Wreda Kirana library keeps senior citizens active

Slamet Susanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Yogyakarta   |  Fri, 09/12/2008 10:50 AM  |  Java Brew

Wartini is 80 years old, some of her teeth have fallen out and her hair has turned gray. The skin of her old face is wrinkled.

However, old age has not prevented this grandmother from earning a living as a vendor and carrying out other productive activities.

"The formula to remaining healthy at this age is simple: You must always feel happy and do light, routine activities. For me, this library for senior citizens is the right place where I can keep myself healthy," Wartini told The Jakarta Post recently.

Wreda Kirana library members enjoy light, physical exercises in the school’s compound before gathering in groups to read. (JP/Slamet Susanto)

The library Wartini was referring to, called Wreda Kirana, is the first of its kind for senior citizens in Indonesia.

Set up by a senior citizens association from Tegalpanggung, Danurejan, Yogyakarta, the Wreda Kirana library is open twice a week -- every Wednesday and Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Housed in a Tegalpanggung elementary school building in Yogyakarta, Wreda Kirana, which now has some 150 members, has more than 3,000 items in its collection; magazines, articles and books that have been donated by local residents.

"Reading together and getting together will make you happy and this is the right formula for senior citizens to remain healthy," said chairman of the managing board of Wreda Kirana, Yohana Sudarsono.

As we age, Yohana said, three aspects of our lives decline, namely physical condition, mental capacity and memory.

"This often makes old people stress. They feel they are no longer productive and that they are a burden to their families. As a result, they become sickly," she said.

This, however, she added, did not apply to the senior citizens who are members of the Wreda Kirana library.

Besides broadening their horizons and minds through reading, the members of this library also do light exercises together, and share their feelings and exchange experiences, especially about their health.

Members of the Wreda Kirana library, which is housed in a building of the Tegalpanggung elementary school in Yogyakarta, read literature available in the library. Most of the books and other reading resources have been donated by local residents. (JP)

Wartini said she joined the library after learning she had hypertension. Now that she regularly visits the library to read the books within and share her feelings with other members of the library, she no longer has hypertension.

Halimah, 59, joined the Wreda Kirana library two months ago, after not being able to relieve an undiagnosed pain she felt in her legs at night.

"I consulted doctors dozens of times, but the pain remained," Halimah said.

However, after becoming a member of the library, the pain Halimah was feeling in her legs disappeared. She said she believes she used to have the pain because she was depressed and because her body organs were getting old.

"The formula is simple. Just do light physical exercise and you will feel healthier. Now the pain in my legs has gone," she said.

The idea to set up this library came from a group of local elders who would gather once a week to read together after doing light physical exercises.

During a break in their exercises, they would read magazines and discuss what they had read.

"Then it struck them to set up a special library for senior citizens. The senior citizens welcomed the idea enthusiastically," Yohana said.

The library has a physical exercise program specially designed for senior citizens with instructors from various local health agencies.

To keep their eyes in good health, the older members of the group are advised to massage their eyes gently before they go to sleep.

"Don't massage your eyes too hard, just do it gently. If you do it regularly, your eyesight will remain good," Yohana said.

The library, Yohana added, is open to both men and women -- but it is only the older women that regularly visit.

"Perhaps the gentlemen think visiting this library will lower their prestige," she said.

To attract elderly men to visit the library, the board of management has included several male members.

"The men are still shy and do not know the pleasure and the benefits of joining this library," said Yohana, who hoped the community would continue to donate books to the library.

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